scholarly journals Biosynthesis of Natural Products

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella O. Bruce ◽  
Felix A. Onyegbule
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Shikimic Acid ◽  
Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle ◽  
Primary And Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Methylerythritol Phosphate ◽  
Acid Pathway ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Nitrogen Containing Compounds

Natural products are in the form of primary and secondary metabolites and are isolated chemical compounds or substances from living organisms. Terpenes, Phenolic compounds, and Nitrogen-containing compounds are secondary metabolites. The biosyntheses of secondary metabolites are derived from primary metabolism pathways, which consist of a tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), methylerythritol phosphate pathway (MEP), mevalonic and shikimic acid pathway. This chapter provides an overview of the diversity of secondary metabolites in plants, their multiple biological functions, and multi-faceted cultural history.

scholarly journals An Overview on the Biosynthetic Pathways and Medicinal Values of Secondary Metabolites

2021 ◽  
pp. 100-114
Author(s):  
Ashwini V. Armarkar ◽  
Divyani S. Mahure ◽  
Anita R. Pounikar ◽  
Rani T. Bhagat ◽  
Dhanashri N. Nagare
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Shikimic Acid ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Biosynthetic Pathways ◽  
Primary And Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Acid Pathway

Nature is a treasure hunt of novel molecules which are extensively used by humans for their medicinal values for millennia. Herbal medicines have emerged as life savers all over the world due to their multifunctional and diverse array of activities on the human body. Plants supply numerous bioactive molecules which are capable of treating disease conditions. Plants produce varieties of phytochemicals which are commonly recognized as primary and secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites are inimitable resources for exploitation for pharmaceuticals, food additives e.t.c. They are often involved in the control of abiotic or biotic stress. They play distinctive roles in the defense mechanism of plants, act as insect repellant, regulate signaling pathways, and also exhibit varied range of pharmacological actions such as antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer anti-diabetic and others. Secondary metabolites are derived from one or mixed pathways that give rise to formation of various compounds i.e., alkaloids, volatile oils, tannins, glycosides and resins etc. which have great importance in modern medicine. Isopentenyl diphosphate and Shikimic acid pathway serve as primary precursors for the synthesis some of types of secondary metabolites. The present review deals with the brief introduction, significance of secondary metabolites in the plants, biosynthetic pathways, and therapeutic importance of some commonly known secondary metabolites.

scholarly journals Unraveling Arbuscular Mycorrhiza-Induced Changes in Plant Primary and Secondary Metabolome

Metabolites ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukhmanpreet Kaur ◽  
Vidya Suseela
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle ◽  
Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Primary Metabolism ◽  
Symbiotic Association ◽  
Phytochemical Content ◽  
Primary And Secondary Metabolites

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is among the most ubiquitous plant mutualists that enhance plant growth and yield by facilitating the uptake of phosphorus and water. The countless interactions that occur in the rhizosphere between plants and its AMF symbionts are mediated through the plant and fungal metabolites that ensure partner recognition, colonization, and establishment of the symbiotic association. The colonization and establishment of AMF reprogram the metabolic pathways of plants, resulting in changes in the primary and secondary metabolites, which is the focus of this review. During initial colonization, plant–AMF interaction is facilitated through the regulation of signaling and carotenoid pathways. After the establishment, the AMF symbiotic association influences the primary metabolism of the plant, thus facilitating the sharing of photosynthates with the AMF. The carbon supply to AMF leads to the transport of a significant amount of sugars to the roots, and also alters the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Apart from the nutrient exchange, the AMF imparts abiotic stress tolerance in host plants by increasing the abundance of several primary metabolites. Although AMF initially suppresses the defense response of the host, it later primes the host for better defense against biotic and abiotic stresses by reprogramming the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Additionally, the influence of AMF on signaling pathways translates to enhanced phytochemical content through the upregulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway, which improves the quality of the plant products. These phytometabolome changes induced by plant–AMF interaction depends on the identity of both plant and AMF species, which could contribute to the differential outcome of this symbiotic association. A better understanding of the phytochemical landscape shaped by plant–AMF interactions would enable us to harness this symbiotic association to enhance plant performance, particularly under non-optimal growing conditions.

scholarly journals Natural Products in Modern Biology: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s Challenges

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
Marcus Krüger ◽  
Peter Richter ◽  
Sebastian M. Strauch
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Modern Biology ◽  
Primary And Secondary Metabolites

Nature provides a unique diversity of primary and secondary metabolites [...]

scholarly journals Integrative Analyses of Widely Targeted Metabolic Profiling and Transcriptome Data Reveals Molecular Insight into Metabolomic Variations during Apple (Malus domestica) Fruit Development and Ripening

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jidi Xu ◽  
Jinjiao Yan ◽  
Wenjie Li ◽  
Qianying Wang ◽  
Caixia Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Fruit Quality ◽  
Fruit Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle ◽  
Flavonoid Pathway ◽  
Primary And Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Development Stages ◽  
Fruit Development And Ripening ◽  
Fruit Stage

The apple is a favorite fruit for human diet and is one of the most important commercial fruit crops around the world. Investigating metabolic variations during fruit development can provide a better understanding on the formation of fruit quality. The present study applied a widely targeted LC-MS-based metabolomics approach with large-scale detection, identification and quantification to investigate the widespread metabolic changes during “Pinova” apple development and ripening. A total of 462 primary and secondary metabolites were simultaneously detected, and their changes along with the four fruit-development stages were further investigated. The results indicated that most of the sugars presented increasing accumulation levels while organic acid, including Tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) intermediates, showed a distinct decreasing trend across the four fruit-development stages. A total of 207 secondary metabolites consisted of 104 flavonoids and 103 other secondary metabolites. Many flavonoids maintained relatively high levels in the early fruit stage and then rapidly decreased their levels at the following developmental stages. Further correlation analyses of each metabolite–metabolite pair highlighted the cross talk between the primary and secondary metabolisms across fruit development and ripening, indicating the significant negative correlations between sugars and secondary metabolites. Moreover, transcriptome analysis provided the molecular basis for metabolic variations during fruit development. The results showed that most differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the TCA cycle were upregulated from the early fruit stage to the preripening stage. The extensive downregulation of controlling genes involved in the flavonoid pathway is probably responsible for the rapid decrease of flavonoid content at the early fruit stage. These data provide a global view of the apple metabolome and a comprehensive analysis on metabolomic variations during fruit development, providing a broader and better understanding on the molecular and metabolic basis of important fruit quality traits in commercial apples.

scholarly journals Isolation and comparative proteomic analysis of mitochondria from the pulp of ripening citrus fruit

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Li ◽  
Yingfang Chai ◽  
Hongbin Yang ◽  
Zhen Tian ◽  
Chengyang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle ◽  
Gradient Centrifugation ◽  
Citrus Fruit ◽  
Label Free ◽  
High Coverage ◽  
Primary And Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Percoll Density Gradient Centrifugation ◽  
Proteomic Approach ◽  
Mitochondrial Functions

AbstractMitochondria are crucial for the production of primary and secondary metabolites, which largely determine the quality of fruit. However, a method for isolating high-quality mitochondria is currently not available in citrus fruit, preventing high-throughput characterization of mitochondrial functions. Here, based on differential and discontinuous Percoll density gradient centrifugation, we devised a universal protocol for isolating mitochondria from the pulp of four major citrus species, including satsuma mandarin, ponkan mandarin, sweet orange, and pummelo. Western blot analysis and microscopy confirmed the high purity and intactness of the isolated mitochondria. By using this protocol coupled with a label-free proteomic approach, a total of 3353 nonredundant proteins were identified. Comparison of the four mitochondrial proteomes revealed that the proteins commonly detected in all proteomes participate in several typical metabolic pathways (such as tricarboxylic acid cycle, pyruvate metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation) and pathways closely related to fruit quality (such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shunt, ascorbate metabolism, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites). In addition, differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) between different types of species were also identified; these were found to be mainly involved in fatty acid and amino acid metabolism and were further confirmed to be localized to the mitochondria by subcellular localization analysis. In summary, the proposed protocol for the isolation of highly pure mitochondria from different citrus fruits may be used to obtain high-coverage mitochondrial proteomes, which can help to establish the association between mitochondrial metabolism and fruit storability or quality characteristics of different species and lay the foundation for discovering novel functions of mitochondria in plants.

The Shikimate Pathway: Biosynthesis of Phenolic Products from Shikimic Acid

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Morrow
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Shikimic Acid ◽  
Shikimate Pathway ◽  
Aromatic Amino Acids ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Bimolecular Reaction ◽  
Pentose Phosphate ◽  
Chemotherapy Agent ◽  
Acid Pathway

Like other amino acids, the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan are vitally important for protein synthesis in all organisms. However, while animals can synthesize tyrosine via oxidation of phenylalanine, they can synthesize neither phenylalanine itself nor tryptophan and so these essential amino acids must be obtained in the diet, usually from plant material. Though many other investigators made significant contributions in this area over the years, it was Bernhard Davis in the early 1950s whose use of mutant stains of Escherichia coli led to a full understanding of the so-called shikimic acid pathway that is used by plants and also by some microorganisms for the biosynthesis of these essential amino acids. The pathway is almost completely devoted to their synthesis for protein production in bacteria, while in plants the pathway extends their use to the construction of a wide array of secondary metabolites, many of which are valuable medicinal agents. These secondary metabolites range from simple and familiar compounds such as vanillin (vanilla flavor and fragrance) and eugenol (oil of clove, a useful dental anesthetic) to more complex structures such as pinoresinol, a common plant biochemical, and podophyllotoxin, a powerful cancer chemotherapy agent. Earlier in Chapter 3, we encountered two important intermediates, erythrose-4-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), each of which was derived from a different pathway utilized in carbohydrate metabolism. Erythrose-4-P was an intermediate in one of the steps of the pentose phosphate pathway while hydrolysis of PEP to pyruvic acid was the final step in glycolysis. These two simple intermediates provide the seven carbon atoms required for construction of shikimic acid itself. The two are linked to one another via a sequence of enzyme-mediated aldol-type reactions, the first being a bimolecular reaction and the second an intramolecular variant that ultimately leads to a cyclic precursor of shikimic acid known as 3-dehydroquinic acid as shown in Fig. 6.3. Subsequent dehydration of 3-dehydroquinic acid leads to 3-dehydroshikimic acid which then leads directly to shikimic acid via NADPH reduction.

scholarly journals 2-HYDROXY-4-METHOXYBENZALDEHYDE, AN ASTOUNDING FOOD FLAVORING METABOLITE: A REVIEW

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neelima Rathi ◽  
Keerthana Harwalkar ◽  
Jayashree V ◽  
Ashwani Sharma ◽  
Nagashree N Rao
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Shikimic Acid ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Phenylpropanoid Pathway ◽  
Flavor Compound ◽  
Security Culture ◽  
Plant Environment ◽  
Acid Pathway

  Objective: Rich endowment of traditional knowledge plays a critical role in health care, food security, culture, environment and development. Traditional knowledge is also widely used by the aromatic, flavoring, food and health industries. Plant-based traditional medicine has often been used to identify and fast-track the development of modern food and drugs. Plants synthesize such wide array of secondary metabolites that includes alkaloids, glucosinolates, terpenoids and phenylpropanoids. This study is aimed to review on indigenous and exotic medicinal plants containing an astounding food flavoring metabolite; 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (HMB).Material and Method: The review focuses on the isomer of vanillin, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, also called MBALD, HMB, or 2H4MB, a flavor compound that is generally found in the roots and rhizomes of medicinal plants. This food flavoring phenylpropenoid is one of the least investigated isomers of vanillin. HMB is known to exhibit a wide array of medicinal properties. Though the molecular role of these metabolites remains largely unknown, they are known to play a key role in plant-environment interactions/stress response/defence signaling and application in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.Discussion and Conclusion: One of the key secondary metabolites is the group of phenylproponoids synthesized either through shikimic acid pathway or the malonate/acetate pathway. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) is the enzyme involved in phenylpropanoid pathway catalysing the deamination of phenylalanine to synthesize cinnamic acid that subsequently synthesizes variety of phenylpropanoid products. Inspite of its medicinal importance, the regulatory molecular mechanism underlying the biosynthetic pathway is largely unknown.

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